UK DIY News

More than 100 retailers fall into administration in first half of year

More than 100 retailers fell into administration in the first half of this year, according to the latest figures to spell out the terrible conditions on the high street.

According to Deloitte, a total of 43 retailers – an 8pc increase from the same period last year – went into administration in the second quarter of the year, on top of the 60 that failed in the first quarter.

Some of the latest victims include household names that had been part of the high street for decades: Habitat, Oddbins, Jane Norman and Focus DIY.

Across all sectors the second quarter of 2011 saw a decline of 19pc on the previous quarter, with a total of 449 companies falling into administration compared with 557 in Q1 2011. Lee Manning, of Deloitte, said: "The retail sector is going through a significant period of change with many companies buckling under the pressure of weakened consumer confidence and a sluggish economy.

"While the overall increase in the number of retail failures this quarter is relatively small, we have seen a significant number of household names falling into administration including Oddbins, Moben, Dolphin, Focus DIY, Habitat and Jane Norman.

"This signifies that the severity of retail distress is far greater than the absolute figures suggest."

Figures from the Office of Fair Trading last week suggested sales had picked up in June, but not enough to make up for the terrible trading in May.

The concern is that most consumers are seeing their disposable incomes fall, with their salaries failing to keep pace with alarming increases in the cost of living, especially the sharp increases in gas and electricity bills.

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